SoCal man ordered to pay $1.3M in insurance fraud

LOS ANGELES 
Los Angeles County prosecutors say a Diamond Bar man has been ordered to repay the state more than $1.3 million as part of his sentence for insurance fraud.

Deputy District Attorney Ellen Aragon says a judge ordered 57-year-old Joseph Baiden to pay the restitution Friday along with five years of supervised probation. Judge David Horwitz suspended a five-year prison term.

Baiden pleaded guilty to insurance fraud for underreporting the number of employees at his nurse staffing agency to the State Fund, resulting in underpayment of workers' compensation insurance.

Aragon says Baiden also was ordered to pay the state Department of Insurance investigative costs of $110,000.

Baiden is scheduled to return to court for a progress report on Nov. 8.